Many major fast food chains have recently introduced new vegan items to their menus. In most cases, I recommend supporting local, vegan restaurants. Supporting local restaurants by purchasing take-out is especially important during the pandemic, as the recurring, necessary lockdowns have negatively impacted small, local businesses the most. Of course, supporting exclusively vegan restaurants is important any time!
Sometimes, though, vegan fast food options from major chains come in handy when you’re on the road or in a hurry. A non-vegan friend might suggest to eat at a fast food restaurant. Or maybe you live in a place without any fully vegan restaurant options.
Whatever the case may be, sometimes you find yourself in a situation where it’s fast food or nothing. Many of these fast food restaurants sadly offer primarily non-vegan options. However, I think it is exciting any time a vegan option becomes more mainstream! Having at least some vegan options will entice some people to choose them when they would not have otherwise, especially if the substitution is good enough.
I’m admittedly a fan of vegan fast food every now and then, so I wanted to share my thoughts on some of the new vegan options I’ve tried recently. Under each item, I’ve also included a suggestion for where you can find a similar vegan item if you do not wish to support fast food restaurants.
KFC
When I went vegan, I never thought I would ever step foot in a KFC again. And, to be honest, it’s still not the most enjoyable experience to go into a KFC knowing how many chickens are killed by this company.
I was really intrigued by the new KFC plant-based chicken burger, though. Before I went vegan, as a kid, I loved chicken burgers and I wondered if this new vegan offering would taste like I remembered. After trying one, I can honestly say it tastes almost exactly like how I remember chicken burgers, particularly KFC chicken, tasting. I had to do a double take to make sure the wrapper said it was plant-based.
The “chicken” is made by Lightlife, and the breading uses the same KFC spice recipe used on their other chicken products. Do note, however, that the mayo used in the spicy version of this sandwich is not vegan. They also use the same friers to make these plant-based burgers, so that may be a deal breaker for some.
They also offer vegan popcorn chicken, which means vegans have even more choices now! The popcorn chicken was also very tasty.
If you prefer not to support KFC:
Check out the burger options are your favourite local vegan-friendly restaurant. I really enjoyed the crispy “chickun” burger from Meet made with battered oyster mushrooms! If you’re in the Vancouver area, like me, I really recommend that you try it! There are also many recipes online for how to make your own vegan “fried chicken” at home (whether it be seitan, mushrooms or tofu). Or look in your local grocery store for vegan chicken burgers like Gardein’s crispy chick’n patties.
Starbucks
Starbucks has offered non-dairy milk options like soy and almond for years, but last year, they added oat milk to their menu. I’m a big fan of oat milk, and a big coffee fan, so this was great news for me. Just recently, Starbucks introduced two new non-dairy drinks featuring oat milk: an Iced Brown Sugar Oat Shaken Espresso and a Brown Sugar Oat Americano.
I’ve tried both and they are both fantastic, although you may want to ask for reduced sweetness if you prefer something less sweet. It’s also nice to have both hot and iced options.
I’ve seen a lot of ads for these new non-dairy drinks, and it’s great to see Starbucks promote these options so widely. I’ve been to Starbucks with non-vegans and they’ve ordered these drinks because of the advertising.
If you prefer not to support Starbucks:
Supporting local coffee shops is important! Most if not all coffee shops offer a plethora of non-dairy milk options and many also have unique drinks like these.
A&W
A&W has served Beyond Meat burgers for quite some time now. The mayo used on the Beyond Burgers is not vegan, but the burger can be ordered without the mayo. Like the KFC burger, these burgers are fried on the same grill as other products served by A&W. They are served in a bun, or can be served in a lettuce wrap if you are gluten free.
If you enjoy Beyond Meat, you will enjoy these burgers. I find they’re a helpful option if you find yourself having to resort to fast food.
A&W also used to offer a Beyond Meat breakfast sandwich, with a plant-based sausage. For the vegan version, it came served on an English muffin with lettuce, onions and tomatoes (forgoing the usual egg and cheese). I was sad to see that they discontinued this option in October 2020, especially because vegan fast food breakfast options can be so hard to find.
If you prefer not to support A&W:
It is cheap and easy to make a Beyond Burger at home. Beyond Burgers are appearing in more and more grocery stores, and can often be found on sale. Making them at home also means you can dress up your burger with your favorite toppings like vegan mayo, vegan cheese, chopped veggies, fried onions, etc. Of course, many vegan restaurants also offer many kinds of plant-based burgers! If you’re in the Vancouver area and craving a good vegan burger and fries, or other fast food-like options, I’d recommend checking out Planetary Burger, the Meet restaurants, Cooper Branch (with locations in Vancouver, Quebec, Ontario and more!) or BeetBox.
Dairy Queen
I was surprised to see that a restaurant called Dairy Queen started to offer a non-dairy ice cream. Dairy Queen recently released a vegan, non-dairy Dilly Bar. I was really impressed with this vegan ice-cream bar, so much so that I checked the packaging multiple times to make sure it was truly vegan. I was surprised that it didn’t have any sort of aftertaste that some vegan ice cream treats have. It tasted exactly how I remember Dilly Bars tasting! These ice cream bars are made with coconut cream and are also gluten free.
If you prefer not to support Dairy Queen:
If you are local to the Vancouver area, my favorite vegan ice cream is from Rain or Shine. Not all the ice cream served by Rain or Shine is vegan, but they consistently have at least one if not multiple vegan options on their rotating menus, and it’s nice to support a local chain. You can also find many vegan ice cream options at your local grocery store.
While supporting local, vegan restaurants is important, it is really nice to see that vegan options have become more mainstream and readily available. I believe fast food restaurants offering more vegan options is a step in the right direction, and I hope other fast food restaurants (like McDonald’s and other major chains) soon follow suit. Have you tried any of these options yet? Let us know what you think!
